Squiz Today – Tuesday, 2 July

SQUIZ SAYINGS

“If you’re going to replicate my work, the least you can do is make it better.”

Two frock designers are at odds with Jason Grech accusing Steven Khalil of copying the Logies number that wore Sophie Monk on Sunday night. Mark it in your diary as the first time a fashion industry player has talked trash about a competitor…

---

AND THEY’RE BACK...

THE SQUIZ
You've no doubt been counting the sleeps from the election to the opening of the 46th Parliament… Members and Senators, old and new, have rugged up and made their way to Canberra for the resumption of play. And it's already game on with the Coalition’s personal tax cuts plan the political bone over which the major parties are snarling at each other.

ARE YOU SERIOUSLY GOING TO KICK THIS OFF WITH A TAX THING?
Umm, yes.

• So, Team Morrison’s proposed $158 billion income tax cuts come in three stages phased over 10 years.

• There's broad support for the first stage (which is to start ASAP) and the second stage (which is to begin in 2022) because of the benefits to low and middle-income earners.

• It's stage three which cuts the 32.5% tax rate to 30% for people earning between $40,000 and $200,000 that critics say gives too much to high-income earners - and it's not due to be implemented for yonks (aka 2024).

The Coalition says it's all or nothing, oh and BTW they won the election so get out of the way. Labor has said it wants to get rid of stage three. But in news yesterday, Shadow Treasurer Jim Chalmers said the party would review its position when the rubber hits the vote this week. PM Scott Morrison isn’t mucking around - he wants it to go through the Reps today, and through the Senate by the end of the week.

AND THE NEW GG’S OFF AND RUNNING?
Smooth subject change… Upstanding military guy Sir Peter Cosgrove has vacated the governor-general’s chair for upstanding military guy General David Hurley. And Hurley’s already made a clear statement - his first words were in the local traditional owners' language, and his first official trip will be to Aurukun, an Indigenous community in Far North Queensland. And why does the GG's speech happen in the Senate chamber? It's a convention that the monarch's representative stays out of the lower/people's chamber. You can blame that incident in 1642 back in Old Blighty for that...

---

SQUIZ THE REST

---

HONG KONG ERUPTS IN VIOLENCE AGAIN

Protestors stormed Hong Kong’s legislative building yesterday on the 22nd anniversary of the city's handover from the British to the Chinese. The suspended proposal to allow the extradition of residents to mainland China, Taiwan and Macau remains at the heart of their concerns. The group of youngsters who had broken away from mainstream protests were discouraged by pro-democracy legislators from breaking into the building. They were evicted by police using tear gas overnight after ransacking the building, and reports say everyone got out safely. Protestors want the extradition proposal to be scrapped entirely and for chief executive Carrie Lam to quit.

---

THE DAY AFTER TRUMP’S PUSH OVER THE BORDERLINE

As expected, supporters and critics of US President Donald Trump applied their view of the world to his walk on the juche side when he crossed the border to become the first sitting US President to enter North Korea on Sunday. One thing most could agree on - it was one helluva photo op. Analysis of the resulting state media coverage in North Korea showed there were promising signs that progress could be in the offing, experts said. The use of the phrase ‘denuclearisation’ in some articles was particularly interesting given North Korea’s reluctance to discuss the topic since the breakdown of talks between Kim and Trump in Hanoi earlier this year.

And while we have you… There have been some raised eyebrows about First Daughter Ivanka Trump’s role during this important trip. And some quality side-eye…

---

SYDNEY AND MELBOURNE ON THE UP

What a difference an election makes… That’s one theory behind June’s lift in home prices in Sydney and Melbourne - the first lift for both markets since 2017. Analysts CoreLogic has been reporting a slowing in the price decline in our two largest cities since the start of the year, and last month the worm turned with the Harbour City reporting a 0.1% rise and our sporting capital delivering a 0.2% bump. Head of research Tim Lawless said the election result (aka the removal of Labor's proposed tax changes relating to property) and last month's drop in interest rates had delivered the positive results. Every other capital city stayed on a downward slide - except good ol' Hobart which produced another rise - this time up 0.2% for the month. The watch out today - the Reserve Bank is tipped to drop interest rates to 1%.

---

REX AIRLINES BATTLES SAFETY CLAIMS

The only thing experiencing more turbulence than passengers on a regional turboprop service yesterday was Regional Airlines’ (better known as Rex) share price. On the weekend, the Sunday Telegraph carried a report that said there was a poor culture that saw safety concerns go unreported. Rex suspended trading on the stock exchange yesterday before making a statement that said the criticism was baseless, and “the same wild accusations that have been raised by a disgruntled engineer and his union”. Airline CEO Neville Howells said it was safety regulator CASA that made the complaint public. Rex shares fell 17% during the morning but recovered to record a 4.6% fall for the day.

---

HAIL MARY!

Anyone who’s lived through a massive hailstorm knows the damage it can do - particularly to cars and roofs. So scenes in the Mexican city of Guadalajara from Sunday are quite something. A hail storm has left a 1.5-metre layer of ice in some areas - incredible given the 30C summer temperatures. Remarkably, no injuries have been reported.

---

TAYLOR SWIFT’S WORST CASE SCENARIO BECOMES REALITY

Music megastar Taylor Swift has taken to Tumblr to vent her anger about the sale of the masters from her first six albums to a company owned by music manager Scooter Braun - a man she says exposed her to “incessant, manipulative bullying”. The back story is that Swift was signed to Big Machine Label Group between 2006 and 2017. Swift says she pleaded with them for the opportunity to own her music from the six albums that she produced during that time but it was never really an option, and so "I had to make the excruciating choice to leave behind my past". And now it’s in the hands of someone she says has worked to “dismantle” her legacy. How does Braun fit into it? He’s tied up with Kanye West - and the Kanye/Swift thing is probably the biggest feud in music this decade. Let the celebrity pile-on begin…

SQUIZ THE DAY

2.00pm (AEST) - Commencement of sittings of the 46th Federal Parliament

2.30pm (AEST) - Announcement of the Reserve Bank’s decision on interest rates

11.00pm (AEST) - Women’s Ashes Cricket One Day Match - Australia v England - Leicester

Late on day two of Wimbledon - Ash Barty to play her first round match against Zheng Saisai

Solar Eclipse - can only be seen from Chile and Argentina soz

World UFO Day

Anniversary of Nostradamus’ death (1566)